Suspect ID'd in Michigan State shooting that killed 3

A gunman opened fire on Monday night at Michigan State University, killing three people and wounding five more, before fatally shooting himself away from the campus after an hours-long manhunt that forced frightened students to hide in the dark.

Police at a news conference Tuesday morning identified the gunman as 43-year-old Anthony McRae. They said he shot himself miles away from campus while being confronted by police. Officials earlier said the gunman was not a student or employee and had no affiliation with the university.

The shooting began Monday night at an academic building and later moved to the nearby student union, a popular gathering spot for students to eat or study. As hundreds of officers scoured the East Lansing campus, about 145 kilometres northwest of Detroit, students hid where they could. Four hours after the first shots were reported, police announced the man's death.

"We have no idea why he came to campus to do this tonight. That is part of our ongoing investigation," said Chris Rozman, interim deputy chief of the campus police department.

The dead and injured in the gunfire at Berkey Hall and the MSU Union, a popular place to eat and study, all were students, Rozman said. Five remained in critical condition at Sparrow Hospital, said Dr. Denny Martin.

During the manhunt, police released a photo of the suspect, and an "alert citizen" recognized him in the Lansing area, Rozman said. Police confronted McRae about eight kilometres from campus in an industrial area, where he killed himself.

McRae was on probation for 18 months until May 2021 for possessing a loaded, concealed gun without a permit, according to the state Corrections Department.

In McRae's Lansing neighbourhood, there was a large police presence overnight.

McRae was allegedly found with a note in his pocket indicating a threat to two schools in Ewing Township, N.J., where he had ties, that district's superintendent said in a statement posted online. He had not lived in the Ewing area for several years, according to the statement.

Students huddle silently for hours

Dominik Molotky said he and the other students heard a gunshot outside their classroom around 8:15 p.m. ET. He told ABC's Good Morning America on Tuesday that a few seconds later, the gunman entered and fired three to four more rounds while the students took cover.

"I was ducking and covering, and the same with the rest of the students. He let off four more rounds and when it went silent for about 30 seconds to a minute, two of my classmates started breaking open a window, and that took about 30 seconds to happen. There was glass everywhere," Molotky said.

"After that, we broke out the window and I climbed out of there, and then I booked it back to my apartment," he said. He was unsure whether gunfire hit any of the students.

Ryan Kunkel, 22, was attending a class in the Engineering Building when he became aware of the shooting from a university email. Kunkel and about 13 other students turned off the lights and acted like there "was a shooter right outside the door," he said.

"Nothing came out of anyone's mouth" for over four hours, he said.

"This is supposed to be a place where I'm coming, learning and bettering myself. And instead, students are getting hurt," said Kunkel.

'Uniquely American problem,' says governor

The shooting at Michigan State is the latest in what has become a deadly new year in the U.S. Dozens of people have died in mass shootings so far in 2023, most notably in California where 11 people were killed as they welcomed the Lunar New Year at a dance hall popular with older Asian Americans.

In 2022, there were more than 600 mass shootings in the U.S. in which at least four people were killed or injured, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

"This is a uniquely American problem," Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Michigan State alum, lamented.

President Joe Biden pledged his support during a phone call, she said.

Rozman said two people were killed at Berkey and another was killed at the MSU Union. By 10:15 p.m., police said Berkey, as well as nearby residence halls, were secured.

Ted Zimbo said he was walking to his residence hall when he encountered a woman with a "ton of blood on her."

"She told me, 'Someone came in our classroom and started shooting,'" Zimbo told The Associated Press.

"Her hands were completely covered in blood. It was on her pants and her shoes. She said, 'It's my friend's blood.'"

Zimbo said the woman left to find a friend's car while he returned to his SUV in a parking deck and threw a blanket over himself to hide for three hours.

Michigan State has about 50,000 students, including 19,000 who live on campus.

All classes, sports and other activities were cancelled for 48 hours. Interim university president Teresa Woodruff said it would be a time "to think and grieve and come together."